A very bad argument for male supremacy

[kpete]

Christian Bootcamp Seeks to Arm Christian Youths for "Spiritual Warfare"
Thomas' Elijah Ministries has started the Kingdom Leadership Institute, a weeklong ideological boot camp for home-schooled Christians between the ages of 14 and 21.
Posted by Eleanor Bader, RH Reality Check at 7:35 AM on November 16, 2009.

"Life is not a playground," says Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas in The Kingdom Leadership Institute Manual. "It is a war zone."

..........................

Thomas’ solution for changing this and returning American youth to the Christian fold is straightforward, if absurd, and starts with home schooling. Women, he writes, should quit working for money and instead work on inculcating “Christian values”, including male supremacy, in the next generation. “A patriarch is a family ruler. He is the man in charge,” Thomas begins. “Biblical manhood demands men … defend and shield or cover women from injury, evil or oppression.” Not surprisingly, Thomas puts forward an essentialized view: Men are logical, women emotional and spiritually attuned. Feminist challenges to this monochromatic definition are anathema to nature, he charges. Worse, they challenge the male birthright to establish a “dynasty” at home.

Yep, you read right. A dynasty.

“Feminists charge that Christianity promotes a patriarchal religion, which oppresses women and steals their potential. Although it is true that Christianity is patriarchal, the function of true patriarchy is to protect, provide, and care for women and children. Biblical patriarchy is expressed as chivalry,” Thomas writes.
.......................

You can almost see Thomas squirming at the idea of women's equality or the varied gender expressions feminists have championed. And then there’s his obvious discomfort with power-wielding females. "A woman can manipulate, dominate and control a man to the point that his manhood is slowly eaten away like a cancer," he raves. Finally, there’s the ultimate rightwing putdown: "Too many women seek value by trying to become men, lead as men, and be aggressive as men."

For Thomas, the call is not only to criminalize abortion and homosexuality, return prayer to the schools, get women out of the workplace, and declare the U.S. a Christian nation, but also to impose Biblical rule on all who reside within our national borders. Furthermore, he's going for blood -- and I mean that literally. "Whether we like it or not, ours is a bloody religion," he explains. "Beginning with God slaying the animals to cover Adam and Eve after the fall…to the final sacrifice by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, one theme rings true. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins."

more:
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/143975/christian_bootcamp_seeks_to_arm_christian_youths_for_%22spiritual_warfare%22/#more

[niyad]

1. can we call nutbars like him domestic terrorists? I worry a lot more about the whack jobs of the

xian reich than I do al-qaeda and the like.

[Angry Dragon]

12. They are terrorists.

They would never admit it though........

It is time for the sane Christians to call these American terrorists what they really are.

If you were to ask them which religion would rule they would have no idea.

[Cerridwen]

2. "his manhood is slowly eaten away like a cancer"

Wow. Let me find my copy of the "Malleus." Geez, the 21st Century, just like the middle ages, only we have computers.

WTF?!

[get the red out]

7. They hate women

I don't know what it will take for people to realize that the religious right is dangerous, they hate women and gays PERIOD.

[Liberal_in_LA]

11. +10

[Cerridwen]

14. They *fear* women.

I have no idea why. There's a whole psychological element there I don't even want to touch.

[get the red out]

16. True, but that fear is expressed in hate and violence

Supress or eliminate. Females are the enemy. All that is feminine is the enemy.

[Cerridwen]

18. Oh, I agree. I was just pointing out that the basis of that hate is fear

(isn't it always?) and that there's some scary psychological stuff in there that needs some serious cleaning before we can get them to see the hate for what it is.

[get the red out]

25. You are absolutely correct

I don't know how we can even find common ground with people who view supression and abuse as virtues. These people are dangerous to all females in their path.

[Echo In Light]

30. Misogyny is the cornerstone of homophobia

[Cerridwen]

32. Yes it is. I'm glad people are finally getting that.

Not that *you* may not have known, but there are many who are just now figuring that out.

[Recursion]

36. Yup: "He looks at me the way I look at a woman"

That's what they can't stand, even though it's not even true. (Well, ok, there probably are a few homosexual men who are as messed up as these people, but not many.)

[Echo In Light]

41. An the sense of a man's 'betrayal' if he embodies "traditional" feminine traits...which all men do!

I think that level of ignorance and fear of the 'other' within likewise plays a substantial role.

[Kievan Rus]

43. They hate anybody that isn't like them...including any and all Christians they don't agree with

[Lorien]

53. Exactly like the Taliban. nt

[Mari333]

31. hah! That book cracked me up

I kept it in the bathroom and it helped me shit.

That is one sorryass book.

everyone should read the Malleus Malefecorum.


quite eye opening

[juno jones]

57. Or anything by catholic 'occult' writer Montague Summers.

His books are foursquare for the status quo in a disturbingly sexual way. I read his book on werewolves a few years back and was quite turned off by the combined homophobia/homoeroticism of it. One image he continued to return to was that of the werewolf eating 'great collops of flesh' from the buttocks of young men. To hear ol Montague prattle, one would never think that werewolves had ANYTHING to do with females, except of course as bad mothers and wives who somehow get men involved with werewolfism or cast spells on them. Any woman of power was a cancerous bloom in Montague's world. Thus his hard-on against witchcraft.

Twisted stuff and unfortunately still used as recommended text in 'paranormal' and cultural studies.

[Cerridwen]

59. Yuck.

I wasn't aware of his other writings. Ewww. I was happy to stay ignorant, thankyouverymuch. :D

Great. Now, of course, I've got to add his other fiction to my reading list. I'll send you the bill for the Pepto(tm).

:hi:

eta: typing are hard today. *sigh*

[juno jones]

64. Yeah, it's all pretty lugubrious.

Unfortunately his stuff has survived long enough to have gained a reputation in some circles, and most importantly, to have entered the public domain, so you can get his idiocy at steeply reduced rates.

I mentioned him because for whatever reason his writings are still used as anti-occult rescource material, possibly by these very fundies (think 'spritual mapping', 'excorcism of witches' ala Palin) as his religious overlay seems to appeal to them and gives him an air of legitimacy. Granted, he does a decent job of compiling traditional european folklore, but his perspective is very skewed toward a rigid religious interpretation. One thing that struck me about his occult books was how much he seemed to HATE the subject. The supernatural (and I use that term loosely because we are talking of symbols and myth and legend) was something (anything?) that interrupted God's great order and thus was evil no matter what form it took, and subjects like women's power seemed to greatly unsettle him. It's vaguely amusing stuff to read if you aren't prone to shouting 'bullshit' at the book every few pages or so.

Uh-oh, now I've done it. I think I need the pepto too, just thinking about him. :hi:

[ensho]

3. yuck! these people are nuts

therefore, dangerous and should never hold any kind of power.

[Berry Cool]

4. He wants the Republic of Gilead to be a reality, and he wants it accomplished through bloodshed.

Christianity doesn't have to be like this, but in the eyes of wack jobs such as this one, it always will be like this.

Luckily, his kind is a minority. Otherwise, we could be in big trouble.

[ddeclue]

5. ...

:puke:

[get the red out]

6. So, what will they do with their Walmart paycheck?

Once these MEN are home schooled by their submissive, uneducated CHRISTIAN mothers and learn to read the Bible (only), with no math or science skills to speak of; will they still be able to afford sufficient, yet potentially expensive, terrorist paraphernalia for taking over the country (or just blowing shit up)?

[seabeyond]

8. so really... he is afraid of women because they truly are more powerful than he

all in all.... pretty damn sad

[Deep13]

9. "Life is not a playground,"..."It is a war zone."

Self-fulfilling prophecy.

[get the red out]

17. War is their religion now

It is something I have noticed about the "Christian Right", they are more into guns than crosses. More into killing than charity. Very little is left that is positive in that branch of Christianity, it is a death cult.

[Echo In Light]

19. Coupled with a strident dose of wishful thinking

[Demeter]

10. What a Disgusting, Stupid Man

Some women will marry anything. But if the bastard does't murder her, the wife usually comes to her senses in a few years and flees.

[Recursion]

13. Read Christian forums; this stuff is disturbingly popular, even among women NT

[get the red out]

23. Have read of sects that promote physical punishment for women

I read about a sect of Christian Fundamentalism that promotes physical punishment for women by their husbands for any "back talking" or screwing up dinner etc... It was a woman promoting this, saying the men "protect" women by making them hurt so they won't do wrong in the eyes of God. And it wasn't just a kinky sex thing. She wrote about dreading the paddle and knowing she was about due for a "correction" because she had been ill and let some housework slide. She also was very proud of her 20-something yr old son's obvious verbal abuse of his girlfriend, she thought it was very manly and protective.

I am serious, this kind of thing is getting some traction, people want to write it off as kink but it really isn't, I ran across some discussion groups that infuriated me, the women so obviously needed physiological help and the Bible-thumping men were capitalizing on it.

To me when I hear "Christian" I think misogynist until proven otherwise.

[Recursion]

29. Well, there definitely *are* kinky "discipline" Christians, too

And I think a lot of people underestimate the number of conservative Christians who are in the Scene. But, yeah, there's a huge difference between bedroom games based on power exchange and discipline -- which incidentally find expression in some of the couple's spiritual beliefs -- on the one hand and the kind of stuff you're talking about on the other.

[get the red out]

35. People's bedroom is their business, but ritual abuse is different

I was terribly disturbed by women fearing the husband coming home and getting out the belt because she had committed some "wrong". Especially the lady who was sick and knew he was going to have to beat her for slacking off.

That kind of stuff is awful and not just "honey lets do our thing in the bedroom".

[JoeyT]

52. They're more common than people think.

Some of the mainstream churches in the south promote men "punishing" women for various transgressions. There are quite a few of the Southern Baptist churches that push this nonsense.

I'm not a fan of spankings, but I do believe if I had a 20 year old son and I heard him verbally abusing his girlfriend, I'd give him 20 years worth all at once.

[liberal_at_heart]

27. It's surpirsingly easy to convince someone to be willingly controlled by someone else

All you have to do is to convince them that it is God's will and that they will be punished if they don't follow. Human beings will do anything you tell them to if you convince them it is God's will. I remember reading how the Southern Baptist Convention had convinced their female parishners to give up the right to be preachers.

[Lorien]

54. I've known some of those women. They're single and have worked at crap

jobs most of their lives, worked damn hard too. They delude themselves into believing that if they let a guy believe that he's her "superior" he'll be good enough to provide everything for her and she can finally get a bit of rest. It's not the case, of course. More often then not she ends up working just as hard in the home, or resuming her career in the workplace, only now she's supporting an unemployed husband who plays video games all day and still expects her to take care of the cooking and home cleaning. It's hardly a bargain for any woman.

[Echo In Light]

15. _

or, more to my liking....

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aiSzqVSmgpU/RgCM_Jc2y8I/AAAAAAAAAQQ/BVIHTGY6oIU/s400/The+Real+Jesus+Forgives+Your+Jesus+For+Being+a+Greedy+Republican+Warmonger.jpg

[liberal_at_heart]

20. I find it ironic that he says women are spiritually attuned and yet

men are the ones who should control everything?

[get the red out]

26. Good catch

And their women can't have any voice in their religion. They don't even make any sense in what they say.

[juno jones]

58. But we are 'naturally' attuned

and like anything 'natural' we are under their commandments for dominion of nature. Nature in their eyes is somehow flawed, despite it's supposed creation by their deity.

It really boils down to 'women give men hard-ons, thus women should be punished for making men lose self-control'.

Even esoteric thought has much to answer for for the subjugation of feminine energies and values.

[BrklynLiberal]

63. They are terrified of women's powers....

[annabanana]

21. Looks to me like Thomas has. . um . .

* issues *

[mainer]

42. a very, very small you-know-what

because big bad women women terrify the poor widdle guy and make him shrink.

[Cerridwen]

51. Unfortunately, that doesn't explain women who agree with this

type of "reasoning."

[no_hypocrisy]

22. American Taliban.

[Cerridwen]

24. Of course, I've gotta ask, what is a *good* argument for male supremecy? n/t

[Solly Mack]

34. Very first thought that came to my mind.

:hi:

[Cerridwen]

37. Hey, you!

Good to "see" you.

Ya know, Solly, sometimes I read your posts and wonder if you and I were "separated at birth?" :D

:hi:

[Solly Mack]

40. We'll have to compare notes one day. :)

:D

[Cerridwen]

45. I hope we get that opportunity.

:D

Though I gotta tell ya, I seriously hope for your sake you have little to do with my family. They don't even bother to put the "fun" in dysfunctional. Yeesh.

[Solly Mack]

47. Oh, yeah. We're related. LMAO

[Cerridwen]

48. .

:spray:

:rofl:

I am soooo sorry. LMAO

[bluestateguy]

28. Good Lord (no pun intended)

What a violent, sick person.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[Kievan Rus]

38. Sounds like Hitler Youth or the Young Pioneers

[Kaleva]

39. I keep telling my wife that I'm the boss.

She says otherwise.

[Kalyke]

44. Men are logical?

This one certainly isn't.

Firstly, chivalry is holding the door open - not whipping your wife to teach her to submit to you.

Secondly, if these so-called Christian men refuse to allow their wives to receive an education, how is the wife then supposed to teach the young males how to read, write, compute mathematics, etc. And, if she's not logical, how is she supposed to teach logical thinking?

:eyes:

Marriages work better and last longer if they maintain an equal "balance of power," which includes child-rearing, work division (house or external), communication and respect.

[lukasahero]

50. Hey - you're logical

You just 'logic-ed' your way right around their stupid illogical education assertions!

:hi:

[MerryBlooms]

46. Despicable

n/t

[Jokerman]

49. "Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins"

OK, that entire last paragraph in the OP makes me want to stockpile weapons.

I can guarantee that the only way they will ever be able to "...criminalize abortion and homosexuality, return prayer to the schools, get women out of the workplace, and declare the U.S. a Christian nation..." would be to kill off everyone who disagrees.

[Taverner]

55. Yes, this is the work of a domestic terrorist. Any questions?

[Sparkly]

56. Like that ever worked.

:eyes:

[Odin2005]

60. LOL, what a bunch of misogynistic dumwits.

:rofl: :banghead:

[OnionPatch]

61. It must be a bunch of very terrified and sick people who fall for this stuff.

I can't imagine that anyone but really messed-up, twisted people would allow their souls to be governed by such a hateful, sick philosophy. It's scary that they have the power and influence they do.

[BrklynLiberal]

62. To me that sounds like the ravings a someone who is totally insane...I mean clinically,

certifiably out of touch with reality. He should be in a straight-jacket, in a padded room being fed Thorazine.

To make matters even worse, those that believe him are liable to do horrible things for him.

They should definitely all be deemed domestic terrorists. Everything they stand for violates the Constitution and most laws
that we have in this country.

[PerfectSage]

65. According to Sarah Palin: If god had intended for men to establish a dynasty at home....

...he would have given men a uterus and breasts, and females a penis to shoot their monthly egg into it to ensure male paternity. Obviously men would have an internal penis and testicles to fertize the female egg in the male uterus. The male breasts would serve to furnish the patriarchial dynasty's infants... ....rotfflmao

[anonymous171]

66. What the fuck? Blood atonement? Where do they get this shit?

I thought Christ was supposed to be the last "blood sacrifice"?